The night watch
by Akasuna no Akane
Summary: They fight against vampires to protect humans. They never question their duty. What will happen when they finally have a choice? Many pairings along the way, main GaaraXOC. VampFic. Rated T.
1. Another night

**I don't own Naruto. Minako Ibuka is mine.**

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It was sometime at night. Two figures were walking down an empty street. They looked young, around twenty years old. They both had black leather coats over them. It was raining heavily, but it didn't seem to bother them at all.

One of them was a man dressed in jeans and dark green T-shirt, with a pair of black sneakers to match. He had two guns hanging on his belt. He was lazily staring at the gray clouds, glad that he tied his hair up before he went out – dealing with it at this time would be troublesome.

The other was a woman, she wore black jeans and a blood red sleeveless shirt that tightly covered her upper body and neck. She had black leather boots on her legs that reached her knees. Her pair of guns was divided on her sides, each one was secured with small belts on her thighs. Her black hair hanged lose. It didn't bother her since it was rather short – it didn't even reach her shoulders.

They were coming back from a mission, a failed one. First time ever.

_Rain... When it doesn't fall for long, it seems like it never did... When it starts falling, it seems like it'll never stop..._ "Hey, Mina! You alright?"

She turned her gaze to meet his. "I'm fine Shikamaru, why do you ask?"

He observed her empty onyx orbs for a moment, than he sighed. "I know you're upset. I am too. But this things happen."

"They happen to other people, not us. We never fail."

Shikamaru looked at her worriedly. "Minako, I -"

She cut him off. "Don't. You're right, it happens. I'm just not used to it. I'll be fine."

"If you say so."

* * *

They've known each other for years. They're best friends, partners on missions, family. They live in the night along with quite a number of their comrades. No, they aren't vampires, they're human, but in a very tight connection to the immortals. They fight them. In the war between humans and vampires, they are the protectors of humanity. Obviously, they aren't normal human beings. They have special abilities, one for each one of them. They also go through years of special training, something only a selected few can handle. But those who do become capable of fighting against immortals, killing them and saving ordinary humans and themselves. They are called the night watch.

They didn't always fight though. This last war has begun rather recently. Before it has, humans and vampires had an agreement: humans have the day, vampires the night. Vampires can feed off the animals as well as the donated blood that hospitals provided. As long as they didn't attack humans, everything will be in order. Unfortunately, agreements never last long. Eventually, vampires got tired of dancing at the humans' tune and decided to make their own rules, which consisted of the absence of them. It began that one night, the slaughter. Many people got killed or taken away. Some were turned into vampires, some are still slaves to the vampire lords, and the rest are already dead.

* * *

They entered a dark, ten-floor building and climbed the stairs to the top. They never use the elevator, they don't need it. They passed by a pink haired woman, who greeted them with a smile, but frowned quickly after noticing the looks on their faces. "Tsunade is expecting you. Just go in."

Shikamaru was the on who answered. "Alright. Thanks, Sakura."

She just nodded and left in a hurry. She was a medic, since she had rare healing abilities, many people depended on her to survive. Sakura was second best, right after her mentor, Tsunade.

Minako knocked on the door in front of them, and they went in after hearing a quiet "enter". A blond woman in a white doctor's robe was sitting at the desk across the room. "You're back, Shikamaru Nara, Minako Ibuka. Report."

Minako spoke first. "The mission was a failure. The entire family was wiped out. Both parents and the girl. They had already been dead for thirty minutes when we got there."

"You were late."

"Yes."

"How? We knew they were going to be attacked."

Minako glanced at Shikamaru, as if looking for support, before she answered. "We were expected... and ambushed. One of the enemies was a high level vampire. One of the lords."

Tsunade scowled at this. "I shouldn't have sent you in the first place. Accidentally finding out who their next target would be was too good to be true, yet I fell for it."

She was silent for a moment, deep in thought, before she looked at them again and said, "You are dismissed, you need to rest. Go to the ambulance to fix your wounds in case you have any."

"Understood." They turned around without another word and left. Tsunade silently watched the door close behind them. _They knew it was a trap, that's why they volunteered to go in the first place. It's strange... They were both aware that a chance of success was small, yet they're so disappointed now when they actually failed. I'm glad I sent them though... I don't think anyone else would've survived._ She smiled at her last thought and turned her gaze to the window. The sun was rising. _Another night is finally over._

* * *

Shikamaru and Minako exited the building and separated on their way to their apartments. Minako turned around after saying goodbye to her friend and started walking slowly towards her home. She wasn't in a hurry, sun was barely up, which meant the vampires were done for the night and that it's too early for any people to come out.

She reached her building and went into her apartment. After taking off her boots, coat and guns, she took a white shirt and dark blue shorts from her wardrobe and went into the bathroom to take a shower. _This is stupid... Why can't I stop thinking about that damn mission. So what if I failed? I should feel lucky to be alive... I'm such an idiot sometimes... That damn Uchiha... If he hadn't shoved up, Shikamaru and I would've taken care of the others easily... _She thought with a frown.

Once she was done, she went out of the shower and dried herself. After getting dressed, she went into the kitchen where she grabbed an apple of the table and bit on it aggressively. She went to the window and ate while staring at the people passing by. _Some of them could be next tonight... Why doesn't it bother them? Do they have such a high faith in the night watch, or did they simply stop thinking about it? I know there are still some of them who try to convince themselves that vampires don't exist. Idiots...  
_

She turned away from the window and threw away what's left of her fruit. _This won't do... I'll have to eat something heavier once I wake up... I'm too tired now anyway..._ She went into her bedroom and climbed on the bed. Another night was finally over.

Shikamaru dragged himself to his apartment. He took off unnecessary items and went to take a shower. A while later he emerged from his bathroom in boxers. _I just hope Mina doesn't beat herself up about this thing... Why does she have to be like that? So troublesome... _Without even bothering to eat something he jumped in his bed and fell asleep a moment later. No matter how long he did his job, he'll never get used to sleepless nights. He was just glad that it was over. For the moment, that is.

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	2. New recruits

**I don't own Naruto.**

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It was around four in the afternoon when Minako finally woke up. _Hmm... Afternoon already? I should get up... _She got out of her bed and went to the window. She shielded her eyes with her hand from still present, but slowly weakening sun. "I hate this. What's the point of being human when I can't be on the daylight at all?"

"Do you always talk to yourself, or is it one of those days?"

Minako kept looking to her front, not bothering to face the annoyance. "What do you want, Kidoumaru?"

The said man smirked suggestively. "You mean besides the usual?"

She turned her head slightly to the side so she could see him from the corner of her eye. "I told you the last time, if you ever come here without a good reason, I will kill you."

"And that's why, I have a good reason. New recruits are coming in today. Tsunade wants you to show them what we're all about."

"Fine. Leave."

Kidoumaru frowned at her cold exterior, but was gone immediately.

* * *

Two hours later, Minako was walking through a busy street. She was dressed in her usual clothes, which consisted of dark red and black. Sun was still up, so there were still people walking around, minding their business. Although she was barely paying attention to where she was going, none of the by passers ever even touched her. That's how it always was. Even if some of them didn't know who she was, they avoided her by instinct. She was already used to it, so she simply ignored it. It definitely made her life easier.

_New recruits... I hope these turn out better than the last two... _

She was at the night watch headquarters few minutes later.

There was a woman with her brown hair pulled up in two buns waiting for her at the entrance. She wore dark green cargo pants, a black sleeveless shirt and had black boots on. "Hey Mina. I've heard about the last night's mission. You alright?"

"I'm fine Tenten. Don't worry about it. Anyway, Tsunade sent me a message about some new recruits. Are they inside?"

"Yeah. Sakura is doing the last medical check up right now."

Minako sighed. "Well then, I should hurry and get this over with." Tenten just gave her a weak smile in return and they entered the building.

As soon as they came inside, they were stopped by the pink haired medic. "Mina, finally! The recruits are below, in the number 1 training area."

"Wait a second there, Sakura! Where is Shikamaru?"

"He'll be training with someone else while you finish up with the rookies."

"Just great." Minako sighed and went towards the elevator. "See you guys later."

After she was gone, Sakura spoke to Tenten. "I don't know why Tsunade insists on Mina to train the recruits. She doesn't have any patience for it. Not to mention that she's never been a people person to begin with."

"Beats me. Still, better her than me, if a new guy ever died on his first mission just because I didn't tell him everything he needed to know, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Same here."

* * *

The building was ten floors high, and if the stories were true, it went into the ground for another ten floors. The number of floors each person is allowed to go down to depends on their rank. Since most people weren't allowed deeper than the third floor, they had nothing but rumors to rely their information on. The number 1 training area was on the first sub floor – the recruits weren't supposed to go any lower until an upper officer officially accepts them in. In this case, that was Minako. Although Shikamaru was going to test them again later on, she was the one to bring the final decision.

* * *

She went out of the elevator, through the dark hall and straight through the big black door. There was the number 1 training area. Since it was only for beginners and "theory" lessons, there weren't any objects on it besides a few targets. It was a simple arena.

When she walked in her attention was caught by an identified mass of squirming objects, which, after the second look, resembled of human limbs. After the third look, she came to a conclusion that those were, in fact, two humans. Two very loud and annoying humans. She pulled her gun out and aimed for the ceiling and, without a second though, pulled the trigger.

BANG.

The two poor idiots jumped from the ground like it was on fire and looked at her with wide eyes.

"What did you do that for? Are you insane? You could have hit one of us!" A spiky haired brunet with red triangles on his face yelled at her. He wore jeans, a simple black t-shirt and had white sneakers on his feet. The blond guy next to him wore similar clothes, except for his shirt, which was _orange._ Unlike his friend, he was just gaping at her in shock.

"I did it to get your attention and yes, I am almost certainly insane, I'd have to be in order to bother myself with you two. As for the last part, you're wrong. I could have hit both of you with that single bullet." She stated calmly. "Now, how about you two introduce yourselves so we can begin?"

The brunet glared at her, but answered. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka." He pointed at the blond next to him and added. "This is Naruto Uzumaki."

Minako smiled, which surprised the other two. "I'm Minako Ibuka, but you can call me Mina."

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"One thing that is common for everyone, regardless of the mission's type is this task: kill as many vampires as you can, protect every human you can, and come back alive. Killing the weakest ones is easy, anyone can do it after some years of combat training. Then there are, of course, the stronger class vampires. They are the largest in number, and only higher level of the night watch warriors can defeat them hand-to-hand. They and the highest level, the vampire lords, are the reason we have these." With that she showed the gun in her hand. "These aren't ordinary guns, since we don't use them to shoot ordinary bullets." She emptied her gun onto her palm. Kiba and Naruto could see quite a number of clear bullets that held a dark blue, almost violet light inside of them. "As you can see, these bullets have a small, UV raze filled bomb inside of them. When they enter a vampires body, they explode, and kill him in an instant." They just stared at her amazed.

She put the bullets back in the gun and continued. "The reason you need this preparation is because shooting vampires down is easier said than done. Most of them are too fast for a normal human eye to follow and therefor, impossible to hit. This goes double for the lords."

Naruto finally opened his mouth. "But then... How do we hit them? Especially those lord guys?"

"You will learn through training and experience, for the most part. As for the lords, you shouldn't worry yourselves too much about them, since there are only three of them and we rarely meet in a battle. Any questions?"

This time Kiba spoke. "Yeah. What is your ability? They told us that everyone here has one, just like the two of us..."

Minako smirked at them. "I figured you'd ask eventually. My ability is the reason I became a high level fighter. But I think that it's better if I show you, instead of telling it to you."

"Really? How?" Naruto got visibly excited at the thought.

Minako tossed him one of her guns and pulled out he other. "You see those targets at the other end of the arena?"

"Yeah."

"When I tell you when, shoot at them." With that she turned around and walked to the center of the arena. She stopped when she was standing between Naruto and the targets, and then moved few meters to the side. "When you fire those bullets out, I'll shoot them down before they reach the targets."

"No way! You'll have to see them move for that, they're way to fast!" Kiba yelled at her in disbelief.

"You're quite loud, aren't you? Anyway, their speed is the whole point of doing this, so just shut up and watch." Then she turned to Naruto. "Shoot when ready." And he did. As soon as they were both done, Kiba ran to the targets. He was more than surprised to find them intact. "What in the world are you?"

Minako came and stood next to him, with Naruto trailing behind. "There you go with the yelling again... Anyway, I have an enhanced vision. I can see a whole lot further than an average human, and I can detect high speed movements."

"Does that mean you can see the higher level vampires' movements too?"

"Yeah... But being able to see them isn't enough. That's why I had to train a lot in order to achieve faster hand-eye coordination. Of course, it all got easier when I partnered up with Shikamaru."

Kiba got curious after this. "And how is that?"

"He can read minds, which means that he can tell what an enemy will do as soon as he thinks of it."

"Cool... So, can you guess what my ability is?"

"I'm not very good at guessing Kiba, why don't you show me instead?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Kiba smirked. And then, he launched himself at the nearest wall. A loud crash was heard and all Minako and Naruto could see for a while was a lot of dust. When it cleared, Minako realized that half of the wall was missing. _Unbelievable... _When Kiba approached them she said. "Super strength. Incredible."

Then she turned to Naruto. "So, what's your ability?"

"Mine? I can just heal myself quickly, and that's it."

Kiba laughed at this. "That's it? Come on! He can heal so fast, he's practically immortal!"

"Is that so? Don't worry, Naruto, Kiba, there will be plenty of time for you to show off your powers. In the meantime, I want you to stay here and do some last minute training. After that, my partner will come here for your last test before we officially let you join the night watch. Any questions?"

"No... Everything is crystal clear." Kiba and Naruto answered in unison.

"Good. I'll see you later then." With that she turned around and walked out of the arena. 

_I have a good feeling about these two... they might actually last in this jungle._ She smiled at the thought and pressed the elevator button for the 10th floor. She had to report to Tsunade about the new recruits. _I can't wait for an actual mission. Days when I have to stay indoors are so boring... But I guess they'll be more interesting with Kiba and Naruto around..._

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	3. The first mission

**I don't own Naruto. **

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_What a drag... I can't believe I had to get out of bed early just to give these two the final test... At least it didn't last long... _Shikamaru thought while he was inside the elevator. He diverted his gaze towards the ceiling. _Maybe I'll go to the roof and watch the stars... _Then he frowned a bit. _I like cloud gazing better... To bad they're hardly visible at night- _"Hey Shikamaru! You there?" The famous lazy ass was brought back to reality by Naruto, who's been energetically waving his hand in front of Shikamaru's face.

"What do you want Naruto?"

"I asked you when we are going on a mission!"

"What mission?"

"Our _first_ mission!"

"Oh... That... I have no idea... Probably pretty soon..."

"Ohhh... Sooo, where are we going now?"

Just when Shikamaru was about to bring a rush decision on a way to end his life in order to escape from the idiot blond, Kiba butted in. "He already told us that! You never pay attention!"

"He did?" Naruto looked at him with confusion evident on his face.

Kiba didn't have time to answer since the elevator door opened announcing them that they've reached the tenth floor.

"Shikamaru! Finally!" The said man was never happier to hear his partner's voice. "Mina, they passed, so I brought them to see Tsunade."

"They did?" Minako sounded semi-surprised. Unfortunately Kiba heard it. "You sound like you thought we'd fail! How about having some faith in us?"

Minako just stared at him, stoic as ever. "It can't be helped. I've sen a lot of people fail..."

"Sorry to ruin the fun, but you two, Naruto and Kiba, should see Tsunade, _now_. Unless, of course, you don't want to get-"

"Lets go Kiba! That Tsunade woman is going to give us a mission!" With that Naruto grabbed Kiba and ran into Tsunade's office without even bothering to stop and knock.

Minako looked at Shikamaru surprised. He heard her thoughts and said. "Don't even thing about it Mina. I didn't tell him that he'll get a mission right away."

She smirked. "Figures... It's good that he has healing powers, cause, with that personality, he'd never last without them."

"Yeah... So you wanna go star gazing on the roof?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Shikamaru, Mina! What are you doing there? I've been looking all over the building for you!"

Minako turned her gaze from the sky and rested it on the pink haired woman standing on the balcony a few meters down."Sakura? What is it?"

"There's no time to talk! Wake Shikamaru up, get off the roof and go to Tsunade immediately! There's an urgent mission for you!"

Sigh. "Fine. We'll be right there."

* * *

"Alright, we're here. What's the mission Tsun-" Minako and Shikamaru stopped dead in tracks at the site before them. "Why are they here?"

Tsunade sat behind her desk with her arms folded in front of her chest. "Why are you staring at me like that Minako? You two are going on a mission with Naruto and Kiba. Tenten and Sakura will be your backup. Anyway, there isn't much time, so I'll be brief."

* * *

After hearing the details of the mission, the group hurried out of the building. Minako threw a pair of keys to both Kiba and Naruto while getting on her black motorbike. "The two bikes on my left are yours. Hurry up and get on." Shikamaru, who was at her right, was already putting his helmet on.

A few minutes later, they were rushing through the streets. Shikamaru and Minako were on the front with Naruto and Kiba close behind. When the first two suddenly stopped in front of a house, the other two barely avoided a crash. "You could have at least warned us when you were about to stop! We almost crashed!" Kiba was annoyed and terrified. Naruto was to shocked to say anything.

Shikamaru got off his bike without a word and pulled out his guns. Minako mimicked his movements, then turned her head to face Kiba. "Just shut up. You'll attract unnecessary attention." She hissed at him, but her voice still held worry. "Stay close to each other and follow Shikamaru's orders at all times." Then she looked back to her front and passed by her partner who was standing at the gate. _Lets do this. Watch my back._ He nodded at her and she jumped over the closed gate and ran to the front door. She kicked the door open and ran inside, out of their sight.

"Shouldn't we go with her?" Naruto managed to get himself together and was standing next to Kiba.

"No. We'll have something to worry about soon enough." Was Shikamaru's answer. A moment alter, they heard a smaller explosion inside the house. After that, there were the sounds of furniture breaking and gunshots. Then they heard something that froze Naruto and Kiba in their spots. Screams. Horrible, painful screams that pushed themselves inside the rookies' minds, while pushing out everything else.

At that moment, several cloaked figures left the house through the windows and ran towards them. Shikamaru began shooting at them automatically, while Kiba waited for one of them to come close before he send the vampire flying to the nearest wall. Naruto froze. He tried to move, but his body simply wouldn't budge. Just when a vampire was about to rip his head off, someone's boot painfully connected to that vampire's chest, which caused him to fall back. Not waiting another second, Minako shot him between the eyes. Then she turned around in time to introduce her right fist into the closest vampire's jaw. "What are you standing there for? Move!"

Her voice was a wake up call for Naruto. He pulled his guns out in an instant and shot the vampire behind Minako. "Sorry Mina."

Instead of answering, Minako pushed him to the side and ran passed him. Fortunately, he managed to stay on his feet and keep fighting. From the corner of his eye, he saw Minako in a hand-to-hand style combat against a red headed vampire. They both moved extremely fast and after some time, Naruto couldn't follow. "Naruto! Pay attention!" Shikamaru yelled at him while hitting one of the enemies.

Meanwhile, Minako was having more and more trouble keeping up with her opponent. She used up all of her bullets and had no choice but to fight him the old fashioned way. Although her eyes could track all of his movements, she was slowly losing her breath. He threw his fist at her head, but she ducked. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to avoid his kick, that sent her into a wall.

She slid down and remained sitting on the ground with her head hanging low. Her vision was blurry. He came closer to her and smirked. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" He said/asked in a mocking tone. Minako started getting on her feet so she could bring herself up. She was brought down again by another kick. He stepped in front of her and caught her throat. She put her hands on his arm in an attempt to keep him from strangling her. It was useless, and she was running shorter on breath with every passing second. Just when she was about to faint from the lack of oxygen, the red headed vampire was pushed aside. Minako saw a black figure standing protectively in front of her. The next thing she new, another one was kneeling in front of her, healing her wounds. _Sakura..._ "Don't worry Mina, I'll heal you in no time." The pink haired medic smiled at her.

Tenten recognized Minako's opponent immediately. It was Gaara Sabaku. One of the vampire lords. She decided not to waste any time and yelled at Shikamaru, Kiba and Naruto. "Close your eyes, now!" The second later, an UV bomb's explosion was heard. It was followed by a number of vampire screams. "You can open your eyes now."

Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked for his partner. She was already healed by Sakura. After checking Kiba and Naruto, he went closer to Minako.

"Shikamaru, come with me inside and bring the chains and gasoline. Tenten, make sure Naruto and Kiba don't follow." Both of them hurried to do as told. Minako started walking towards the gate, but Sakura stopped her. "It happened again, didn't it?"

"Yeah. We better clean this up quickly." With that she went inside, followed by Shikamaru.

Kiba and Naruto looked at them confused. Then Naruto turned to Tenten. "What do they need chains for?"

Tenten closed her eyes and sighed. "To bind them."

"Bind who?"

Naruto didn't get to hear the answer – it was interrupted by screams. _"No! What are you doing? Please don't! Let us go, please!"_ They were coming from inside the house.

"W-what was that?"

"People who lived in that house."

Naruto looked at Sakura wide eyed. "Why are Mina and Shikamaru binding them?"

Tenten looked at Sakura disapprovingly, she shouldn't have told them that.

"We tied them up inside, because we are going to kill them."

Naruto and Kiba turned around to see Minako and Shikamaru who were already outside. "Why, Mina?"

She looked at him with cold eyes. "Because they were turned. They aren't human anymore, they are vampires. We are going to burn down the house with them."

This time it was Kiba's turn to rebel. "You can't do that! They didn't ask to be turned, they deserve a chance!"

Minako scowled and turned her gaze towards him. "This is a standard procedure. I am aware that they didn't ask for this to happen, but it doesn't change the fact that it did." She turned around and pulled a lighter out of her pocket. She lighted it and threw it at the front door. They burned and soon, the rest of the house met the same faith. They heard screams of pain, calls for help, agonized cries. Kiba watched Minako's face in disbelief. It was like a stone. Like the fact that she just burned an entire family inside of their own home meant nothing to her.

She walked out of the front yard, kicking the gate open. Shikamaru was behind her, with a worried look on his face. Minako walked to her bike and took her helmet. "Get on your bikes. We're done here." With that she put her helmet on and drove off.

"We'll talk about this at the headquarters. There are some things that you need to know and understand if you're going to work with Mina and myself." Shikamaru threw them another worried look and went after Minako.

Tenten, Sakura, Naruto and Kiba got on their bikes and drove off without another word. _I guess she wasn't joking when she said she was insane. _That thought was probably the scariest thing Kiba ever thought of in his whole life. _I just hope that Shikamaru can make things clear with whatever he wants to say to us, cause I don't get this, or like it one bit._

Next to him, on his own bike, Naruto had his own worries. _Those screams... They were horrible... I won't be able to sleep for days..._

As they were driving, a pair of aquamarine eyes watched them carefully. _This is going to be interesting... _The young lord smirked at his last thought before disappearing into the night.

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	4. Connection to fire

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

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When Kiba and Naruto reached the headquarters' building, they saw Tenten and Sakura get off their bikes and go inside. Shikamaru was at the entrance, waiting for them. Minako was nowhere in sight.

As soon as the two got off their bikes, they heard Shikamaru's voice . "Follow me." They followed close behind him as he led them inside. "Do you know how many underground levels this building has?"

Both Kiba and Naruto looked at him confused, then Kiba spoke. "Five. But what does that have to do with-"

"Officially yes, it does have five, but there are actually ten levels. In other words, this building goes into the ground as much as it goes into the sky." He led them into the elevator. "Do you know what is on the first five levels?"

"They told us that the first three have training facilities, the forth is a some kind of research center and the fifth is a hospital." Naruto answered while watching the number of levels grow on the elevator's monitor. They stopped and the door opened when they reached level seven.

"You two believe that our way of dealing with the humans who were turned is wrong. Am I right?" Shikamaru asked while leading them into a dark hallway.

"We don't believe in it, we know it!" Kiba said angrily.

"Then what do you think that we should have done?"

Both Naruto and Kiba frowned at his question. "We could have let them go!" Naruto said after a moment of thinking.

"Of course. We should have given them a couple of humans to go as well. You know, to have something to feed off on their trip." Shikamaru retorted sarcastically.

"We could have captured them." Kiba said while staring at the floor as they went.

"That kind of opinion is the reason I brought you here." Shikamaru told them, which earned him a pair of confused looks. "On the seventh level, we keep all turned humans that we had captured."

As soon as Shikamaru said that he pointed in front of them. Naruto and Kiba saw a pair of heavily armed guards standing in front of a metal gate. "Hey Shikamaru! Are those guys new?" One of the guards asked.

"Yeah. I figured that they should learn a couple of things before they are ready to go on missions by themselves. Can we go in?"

"Yeah. But you're responsible for them. Anything happens – it's on your head." With that the guards opened the gate and let them through. They had to pass two more gates before they got to the holding facility. Once they got there, Kiba and Naruto barely prevented themselves from throwing up and/or fainting. Some of the humans-turned-vampires were quietly lying on the floor of their cells. They were pale and skeleton like. They were also covered in dried blood and opened wounds. Shikamaru told them that they don't have enough energy left to move and that it's only a matter of time before they die. "Why would they die? I mean, you give them food right?" Kiba asked terrified.

Shikamaru sighed while looking away from the poor creature. "The lack of food leaves them the feeling of hunger, but they can't die from it. The lack of blood is a different story. If they don't feed, they get weaker and eventually die. Naturally, giving them blood would be stupid from our side."

"If you don't give them blood, why does this place reek of it?" Kiba asked while looking at the cells.

"When they begin to feel weaker, they get desperate. At some point they start biting and cutting themselves, so that they could lick the blood of the wounds."

At that moment, Shikamaru pulled Naruto behind just in time for him to avoid getting grabbed by a long, pale hand. A terrified yell escaped from Naruto when he saw the owner of the limb. "Stay away from the bars." Shikamaru warned. "Vampires can live without blood for a month before they die. The ones you saw before haven't tasted blood for over three weeks. These ones here, are half way there."

"You mean two weeks?" Kiba asked while trying to free himself from Naruto's grip. The poor blond was to scared to stand on his own so he hugged the person closest to him.

"Yeah. I think you've seen enough though. The further we go, the stronger they'll be. The ones that have been caught recently are at the end of the hall." Shikamaru stated while pointing in front of them. Then he turned around and motioned for them to follow.

When they reached the elevator, Kiba spoke. "Alright, I think it's obvious why letting them go or catching them are not on our list of options. But why did you have to kill them like that? Is that method even allowed?"

"As far as killing vampires goes, everything is allowed, Kiba. As long as they're dead, that's all that matters."

"So why didn't you kill them some other way? Burning them is too cruel, even for vampires."

"Well, Naruto, that's the second part of the conversation I intended to have with you." When they went out of the elevator, Shikamaru led them outside. The sun was rising. "Do you guys mind coming to my place for a while? What I want to tell you is not for everyone's ears. Not to mention that Mina will probably kill me if she ever finds out about it."

"Sure, no problem."

"Great. It's not far away, so we can walk."

* * *

They soon reached the building Shikamaru lives in and went to his apartment. Naruto and Kiba sat on the couch in the living room. "Can I get you guys anything? Water? Coffee?"

"Coffee sounds great, thanks." Kiba answered for both of them.

A few minutes later, Shikamaru finally sat down across from them and began to talk. "To answer your earlier question Naruto, we killed them that way because that's what Minako ordered. Since she is in command, the rest of us have no choice but to obey. That's the rule."

"I understand that. Still, I doubt that you brought us all the way here just to tell us that we have to follow orders."

"You're right. It's not the reason why I did what I was told that you need an explanation for, it's the reason why Minako ordered me to do it. Do you follow me so far?"

"Yeah." Kiba said while Naruto nodded his head as an answer.

"Minako had been "cleaning up the mess" like that for as long as I've been with her. The reason she chooses that way to kill the turned humans is the fact that she almost died in the burning house herself. I know that it doesn't make much sense to you, but it's true. As far as she's concerned, the moment those people turned into vampires, they became her enemies, even though they haven't even attacked anyone."

"Wait, you said that she almost died. What exactly happened?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah! Was she a vampire or something?"

Both Kiba and Shikamaru sent Naruto a frustrated glare. "How could she possibly be a vampire and a human at the same time? Use your head before you ask dumb questions!" Kiba yelled before hitting the blond.

Shikamaru sighed and continued. "Her family was attacked by vampires. Everyone except her were turned. She never told me why the vampires didn't bite her as well. I doubt that she knows the reason herself. All I know is that people from the night watch came soon after and tied them up inside the house. She told them that she was still human, but they didn't believe her."

"If they didn't believe her, how did she get out?"

"I don't know Kiba. The fact is, Minako doesn't know either. The last thing she remembers is fainting because of the smoke."

"But vampires weren't the ones who killed her family! The night watch did!" Naruto had finally recovered from the hit Kiba inflicted on him.

Shikamaru yawned tiredly. "So?"

"Why does she hate vampires?"

"I wouldn't say that she hates them, but she never exactly said how she feels about them. And if you value your life, you won't ask. Anyway, she probably believes that it's the vampires fault her family was killed. Which makes sense, if you think about it."

"I guess it does." Kiba said with a serious expression on his face. A moment later, he stood up and pulled Naruto with him. "We should probably go now."

Shikamaru followed them to the door. "Yeah. I'll see you guys later. And don't forget, what I told you stays between us, alright?"

"Right. Don't worry, our mouths are sealed. Bye Shikamaru."

"Bye."

* * *

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	5. Lesson about vampires

**I don't own Naruto. **

* * *

It was around six o'clock in the afternoon when Shikamaru was woken up by his phone's ringing. He lazily got out of bed and dragged himself to answer the call. "Yeah?"

"You're still in bed Shikamaru?"

"If I were, I wouldn't be talking to you right now, would I Mina?"

"Yeah, yeah... Anyway, you better get ready and come to the headquarters as soon as possible. I'll meet you there with the newbies."

"Wait a second Mina, what happened?"

"Kidoumaru and his group caught one of the vampires last night. We might get some answers by questioning her."

"Her?"

"Yeah... Apparently, Kidoumaru got his hands on Temari Sabaku." Then she sighed. "Now that he has finally caught a vampire lord's sibling, he'll probably never let me hear the end of it."

"Don't worry, if we don't get anything from her, you'll be able to rub it in his face later."

"I guess so... I've got to go, see you later."

* * *

Minako and Kiba met half way to the headquarters, so they continued walking together. "Why is there such a big fuss around a caught vampire?"

"Because, Kiba, unlike the vampires we usually meet, this one is a higher level, and also, one of the certain vampire lord's siblings."

"So?"

Minako sighed. "I should probably explain you from the beginning. You see, there are some important differences between the human and the vampire community. Humans obey the rules and live by the laws that their leaders make without a second thought. And those that don't are excluded from the rest, one way or another. That's what we like to call order. Things are a bit different with vampires. They don't have what we could call laws. They have certain principals that they follow, but that's pretty much it. That's why, they need vampire lords. Like I've already told you, they are the three strongest vampires who lead the rest. Without them, the vampires would've lost this war to us ages ago."

"I don't get it."

"It's simple. The most of the current vampire population is consisted of weak individuals who follow their own wants and needs without thinking first. Without someone to lead them, they would've all gotten themselves killed in no time. Now this is the important part: there aren't many vampires who know the meaning of the word loyalty, which is why those who lead them need to be stronger than them, so that they could force the others to obey."

"Force them? How?"

"By installing fear into the other vampires, of course."

"Right. Well, thanks for the lesson about vampires Mina, but I still don't understand wh-"

"You don't understand because you didn't let me finish. Anyway, the reason we know all that is because the night watch had managed to kill all three vampire lords in the past."

"But if they were killed, than-"

"These three became lords when the previous one's died. The strength of the lords is a form of a bloodline trait. In other words, it's inherited from parent to child. In the case of a lord's death, his child takes his place, insuring that the position of the leader of vampires is always occupied. Which brings us to the top subject. Every vampire needs a mate in order to reproduce. The lords aren't an exception. The only difference is that they choose their mates as soon as those mates are born. And they are usually human."

"How do they choose them? It doesn't really make sense."

"To insure the strength of the heir, both parents must be strong. Apparently, vampires can feel person's strength even at young age. I don't know how, but it doesn't really matter. Anyway, all that talk finally leads us to the answer to your question."

Kiba sighed with relief. "Finally!"

Minako threw him a glare before talking again. "During the last two nights, I've had and encounter with two vampire lords – Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara Sabaku. We've also received reports from other groups about the appearance of the third one – Neji Hyuuga. The only reason why all lords would be at the same place and time, is the presence of at least one of their soon-to-be-mates, in this area."

"So, if we find out who they are, we can stop the vampires from getting them!" Kiba said excitedly. Then he frowned. "But won't they just take someone else instead?"

"They can. But unlike humans, there is only one perfect mate for each vampire, so any kind of replacement would cause the birth of weaker heirs. And so on."

"Alright, I think I get it."

"Finally!"

* * *

When they reached the headquarters, they met Shikamaru and Naruto at the entrance. Minako spoke first. "Hey you two! You've actually made it in time, Shikamaru, I'm surprised!"

"Quit fooling around Minako, we've got work to do."

"Right." Then she turned to face Naruto and Kiba. "Come one you two, you're coming with us."

They entered the building and headed for the elevator. "Which level are we going to this time?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"This time?" Minako turned to her partner. "Shikamaru!"

"I just showed them a few things, nothing important..."

"Where did you take them?"

"To the seventh level..."

"Shikamaru, you know well that you're not supposed to take them lower than the fifth level without me! We're both responsible for them!"

"Will you relax? Nothing happened, they're both fine."

"Whatever... Lets just get this over with. And to answer your question Naruto, we're going to the tenth level. That's where we keep the stronger vampires."

"I have just one question."

Minako sighed. "What is it Kiba?"

"Why do you keep stronger vampires so deep in the ground? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to keep them higher, where the sunlight can reach?"

"That is a good idea, during the day... But what do you suggest that we should do during the night?"

"Right... I forgot about that part."

* * *

A while later they reached the tenth floor. Shikamaru and Minako left the elevator first, with Kiba and Naruto close behind. This time they passed five gates with heavily armed guards before they reached the part where the captives were held. Unlike the cells on the seventh floor, which had metal bars, these cells were closed by metal doors and they all had UV bombs on four sides. "What are those bombs for?" Naruto asked while pointing at one of the doors.

"If the door is destroyed or opened by force, they will explode and hopefully kill anyone who tries to escape." Minako said. "Hurry up, we're almost there. And don't touch anything."

Soon they reached the part with rooms which walls were made of glass. "These rooms are for questioning." Shikamaru told them. After hearing their thoughts, he continued. "Don't worry, braking that glass is hardly possible from the inside. The UV raze and bombs activate if the vampire is less than a meter away from it."

When they got to the end of the hall, they saw a woman with dark blond hair pulled into four pigtails sitting bonded to a chair. Kiba could have sworn that he saw a small smirk form on her face the moment she saw them. But when he looked again, he didn't see anything, so he dismissed it as nothing important. "Alright, Naruto, Kiba, you stay here with Minako and watch. I'm going to try to get some information out of her." Shikamaru told them before going inside.

"How exactly is he going to do that?" Kiba questioned sceptically.

"With his mind reading, of course. His ability is one of the reasons why Shikamaru is so important to us."

"Right."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Minako, Kiba and Naruto were still waiting for Shikamaru to finish.

"Aaah! How much longer do we have to wait?" Naruto and Kiba screamed in unison.

Minako moved from the wall she was leaning on a moment ago and glared at them. "Be patient. For all we know, this could last for hours. And you two are lucky that glass is soundproof, you would have broken Shikamaru's concentration with all the noise you make."

"Did you say hours?" Kiba yelled, while Naruto was allowing the despair to take him over.

Just when Minako opened her mouth to yell at the annoying brunet, the alarm was set off. "What's that?" Naruto asked while nervously glancing at the red rotating lights.

Minako swore under her breath before answering. "Vampires entered the building!"

"What? How is that even possible?" Kiba said the moment before they heard a loud explosion above them.

"I don't know. This is the first time it happened. By the sound of it, I'd say that they've reached the third level."

"They're coming here? Shouldn't we go up then?" Naruto asked with panic in his voice. As soon as he said that, they heard a loud bang and the floor began to shake.

"Well, even if we had a chance to escape before, it's definitely gone now."

Kiba and Naruto looked at her terrified. "What do you mean?"

"We just lost the elevator." And with that Minako took off in direction of the five gates. "I'll go get the guards! You warn Shikamaru!"

After that everything happened fast. Vampires reached the tenth level and attacked. Since the elevator was the only way out from the underground levels, every person who was there during the attack, was trapped. Most of them were either killed or left to die from being crushed by the falling ceiling.

* * *

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	6. Question of sanity

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

It was already morning when Minako woke up. She sat up and looked around. She was not too far away from the fifth metal gate, or at least what was left of it. _Shikamaru! _She managed to get up and slowly walk towards the place she left her teammates at. _Oh, that hurts! _Minako was brought back to her knees by a strong pain in her stomach. She had a pretty deep cut over it, and it was bleeding. And then the last night's events came back to her.

* * *

_Flashback_

_She got to the guards on time to defend the gates and hopefully stop vampires from getting through. They heard a loud bang at the other side of the elevator door before they were thrown in their direction. Unfortunately, the two guards standing in front of the first gate failed to avoid the hit. Minako and the others didn't have time to check if those two were alive – vampires started coming out from the tunnel the elevator used to occupy. The guards opened fire and they were doing well for a while. Then they heard another explosion above them, and the ceiling fell. Three guards lost their lives under it. Then Minako saw what she feared the most. The red-headed vampire jumped through the freshly made hole and landed in front of them. His aquamarine eyes were the last thing she saw before he spread his black wings and threw her comrades and her against the wall._

_End of flashback_

* * *

"I should have known he'd come to free her. I am such an idiot." Minako said to herself while staring at the floor.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Mina. After all, we weren't the ones who brought that vamp-girl here in the first place."

Minako lifted her gaze to find Kiba struggling to get up. He had a large wound on his leg, but seemed fine. "Kiba, where are Naruto and Shikamaru?"

"Naruto probably went to look for Shikamaru. I'm not sure, since he wasn't here when I woke up."

"Then how can you be sure that he's even alive?" Minako yelled in frustration.

Kiba finally managed to get on his feet and slowly approach her. "Remember what I told you about his ability? Naruto is alive for sure." Then he reached for her arm and pulled her up. "Lets go. We have to find them."

When they got to the end of the hall, they saw Naruto. He was standing in the middle of what was left of the room Shikamaru and Temari occupied hours ago. Shikamaru was nowhere in sight.

Naruto looked at them with sad eyes before turning his gaze back to the floor. Then he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. "We have to go Naruto. Come on."

He looked at Minako with tears forming in his eyes. "Mina, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, he's just gone."

"It's alright Naruto. It's not your fault. I'm just glad that you're alive." She said with a small smile. Then she turned around and pulled him with her. "Since there aren't anymore survivors on this level that we should worry about, the next thing to do is to find a way out. Or should I say up." Kiba and Naruto looked at her confused. "Wake up you two, we don't have all day! If you want to mourn for Shikamaru, you're welcome to do that _after _we get out of here!" Than she started walking towards the elevator's tunnel.

"Wait Mina! Didn't the elevator get destroyed?" Kiba asked while Naruto was helping him walk.

"Yes it did. But we're not taking the elevator, just it's cables."

"You are going to pull yourself up the cable in that condition? Are you insane?"

"That's the plan. And I think I've already answered your second question."

When they finally made it to the elevator, they found the cables. "There's no way we're going to lift ourselves up with that for ten floors!"

"Don't worry Kiba, we'll take a 15 minute break on every level until we get to the top."

"That would be barely possible for us even in our best condition! How are we supposed to do that when we're wounded?"

"That's why we have to search every level on our way up. And if we're lucky, we'll find survivors and some of them will be healers." With that she jumped to the front and grabbed one of the cables.

"I swear Naruto, she's completely insane." Still, they had no choice but to follow her.

* * *

They were climbing slowly, while searching through every level for any signs of life. They found nothing until they reached the fifth level. "Alright, you two! First we'll look around to see if anyone's alive and if we don't find any medics, we'll find something to clean up the wounds and bandage them."

They went through the hospital, checking every room. Just when they thought that this level was empty, they heard some noise coming from a room at the far end of the hallway. It's door was closed and a part of the ceiling was covering it. "Hey Kiba! Could you move that for me please?" Minako asked while pointing at the large piece of the ceiling.

Kiba went closer and punched through it. "Who ever is inside, step away from the door!" He yelled before punching the door open.

"Kiba, Naruto, Mina, you're alive!" Minako's eye caught a flash of pink before she was enveloped into a bear hug. "Sakura... It's hard to breathe when you're strangling me." She said in a low voice.

* * *

Apparently, Sakura and the rest of the medics managed to drag Tenten and some of their other patients into the room without being noticed, and the vampires simply passed them on their way to the lower levels.

* * *

"Where is Shikamaru?" Tenten asked Naruto while Sakura was healing Minako and Kiba.

"When I woke up, he wasn't there. I don't know what happened to him."

"They took him with them, the only problem is that we don't know why. Anyway, he might still be alive, and if we hurry, we can make it in time to save him." Minako said while getting up. Sakura did her job well, so she was already good as new.

"We'll discuss that topic once we get out of here. I'm sure that Tsunade called for backup as soon as we were attacked, but there's no reason for us to wait for them to come." With that Tenten went towards the elevator tunnel.

"Backup?"

"Yes Naruto. There are headquarters of the night watch at almost every town in the world, just like there are vampires. The night watch agents from the nearby towns will be here soon enough and they'll most likely repair all the damage by nightfall."

* * *

The last four levels also had a few survivors. Thanks to Sakura and the other medics, everyone who weren't already dead, were saved.

They were quite surprised when they reached the ground floor. Its state was a whole lot better than what they've seen before. The first floor was also slightly damaged, but that was about it. There weren't too many victims either.

"Seems like the vampires only killed and destroyed what got in their way." Tenten said while looking around.

Minako smirked. "Yeah. Makes you wish you had a day off, doesn't it?"

Than they heard yells spread through the building. "Looks like Tsunade is getting everything in order."

"Yes I am, Minako. Do you have any objections?"

"Not at all boss!"

Tsunade looked across the hall. "Only people in this room survived?" Everyone nodded their heads as an answer.

She turned around and began climbing the stairs. "Minako come with me. The rest of you, go home and get some rest, you'll need it."

Naruto and Kiba left the building immediately with the others. Sakura and Tenten watched Minako's retrieving back until she was out of sight. They glanced at each other worriedly before leaving.

* * *

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	7. Say goodbye to cherry blossom

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Saying that Kiba and Naruto were surprised when they came back to the headquarters that night would be and understatement. Just like Tenten told them that morning, people from the night watch in other towns came and fixed the damage caused by the vampires' attack. Everything was back to its place, it was like the last night never happened. Or at least everyone tried to act like it. They could see many sad faces of people who lost their friends or family members on the underground levels.

They went to the tenth floor by the elevator, just to be greeted by another surprise. Usually the tenth floor was practically a deserted place – the only ones there were Tsunade and people who had some sort of a business with her. This time it was different. There were around fifteen people waiting in front of the old woman's office. Kiba and Naruto immediately spotted Minako, Tenten and Sakura. Minako was leaning on the wall with her eyes closed and her arms folded on her chest, while Sakura and Tenten were standing in front of her, talking about something. They turned around as soon as they saw the other two coming towards them.

"Um, guys, what's going on here?" Naruto asked when he and Kiba got close.

"It seems that someone has managed to convince Tsunade into sending the most of her night watch agents to attack vampires." Minako said while half opening her eyes to look at them.

"Does that mean you weren't the one to talk her into it?"

Minako let her arms fall while pushing herself off the wall. "That's exactly what it means Kiba. I am angry because they took Shikamaru, but I'm not suicidal."

"What do you mean?" Naruto send her a confused look. "Fighting vampires is dangerous, but I wouldn't call it suicidal."

Minako smirked. "Fighting them on the street is a child's game compared to what we might be going up against. Attacking vampires means barging into their castles and fighting them there. We weren't capable of defending ourselves here, so what chance do you think we have on their territory and in lot smaller numbers?"

"Can we do something to change Tsunade's mind then?" Kiba asked.

At that moment three people in black cloaks walked out of Tsunade's office. Minako saw them and scowled. "I'm afraid not. You see those three that just went out of her office? They are from the main night watch command. Whatever they told Tsunade to do, she'll have to do it. Going against their orders is labeled as treason."

As soon as the three figures were gone, Tsunade came out. Frustration was clear on her face. Everyone in the hall turned their heads to look at her. "Can all the team captains please come into my office? The rest of you can wait on the ground floor for further instructions."

Minako motioned for them to leave and went in Tsunade's direction.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of agony that enveloped everyone on the ground floor, the elevator's door finally opened to let out the team captains. They all had different expressions on their faces, so it was hard to guess what kind order they received. However, Tenten, Sakura, Kiba and Naruto realized what happened as soon as an enraged Minako approached them. "Get your equipment. We have to leave as soon as possible."

They all nodded and hurried to do as told. After a few minutes, they were walking out of the building and heading for their bikes. Tenten and Minako separated from the others for a moment. "What did you and Tsunade argue about?"

"What makes you think we argued?"

"I don't need to be a mind reader to know that something is wrong, now spill it."

"Fine... I asked her to let me leave Naruto and Kiba behind." Minako said while looking away.

Tenten looked at her sympathetically. "We should go." Was all she said before she began walking towards her bike.

They were riding quickly, with Minako in the front. Soon they left the streets, houses and buildings behind them and entered the forest. After following the road that went on between the dark trees for a while, Minako pulled over and the others did the same soon after.

"Why did we stop?" Kiba asked while glaring at the nearby bushes.

"This road leads to another town. Vampires' castles are deeper in the forest." Minako told him while she was getting off her bike.

"There is more than one castle in this forest?"

"Well, it's a big forest, Naruto. However, only one of the castles in this area belongs to a vampire lord. The other two live in castles on different sides of the town. Naturally, since the entire town is surrounded by forests, there are many castles that we can pick from." Minako said while checking the time. "Alright, lets get going." With that she pulled out her guns and went off the road.

They were walking for a while before noticing a clearing. The next thing they saw were stone walls not too far away. "I was hoping that the castle thing was a joke..." Kiba said to himself.

"Mina, I know that it's a bit late for this now but, why are we attacking during the night? It would be a whole lot safer on the daylight." Naruto asked.

"Because it's impossible for us to enter the castles during the day. Vampires have built a special security system that covers all doors and windows with unbreakable metal first thing in the morning. As soon as the sun sets, the metal removes itself and vampires are free to go out without worrying about the time of the day."

"So, does this castle have one of the lords in it or not?"

"Sorry Naruto, I have no idea." Minako said while putting a pair of leather gloves on her hands. "Gather around people so I can tell you the plan. What I'll ask you to do is risky, but that way at least one of us will have a chance to survive."

Naruto gulped and Kiba visibly paled at that statement.

"Kiba will go with Sakura to ground and the first floor, Tenten and Naruto will take the second and go up from there, and I'll go to the top and work my way down. Use every weapon and skill that you have and in case you're cornered with no way out or have the luck of meeting a vampire lord, activate a couple of UV bombs and head for the window. Then make a run for the bikes. If you are not followed, wait for the rest of us there, but if you are, get on the bike and return to the headquarters as fast as you can. Any questions?"

"Did you say windows? How are we supposed to jump down the second floor or higher without killing ourselves?"

"That's the reason I put you and Tenten there, Naruto. If you break something, you'll heal in a matter of seconds and Tenten can use her enhanced speed to climb down the wall without much trouble. Any other questions?"

"Just one, are you planning to climb the wall to the top?"

"Yes Kiba, I am. We are all going to climb and go through the windows. You didn't seriously think that we're going to walk in through the front door, did you?"

"No, of course not."

"If that's all, lets get going and good luck to everyone." With that Minako walked to the wall and started climbing.

"Do you think she can actually do it?" Kiba asked Sakura. "Yeah. Don't you worry about Mina, she can take care of herself."

* * *

After a few minutes, Minako finally reached the roof. _Where am I going to sneak through now? _Then she saw a balcony with its doors wide open. She stared at it for a moment. _That is way to easy. Than again, what if it is a trap? It's not like I have anything to lose, I'm standing on a roof for heavens sake!_ Than she quietly began walking towards it. She carefully climbed down and went in while pulling her guns out. _Wow this room is big! _There was a large bed with dark blue sheets in the middle and a big wardrobe spread across the entire opposite wall. There were two doors on her left. The door closer to her was normal size and most likely leading to a separate bathroom. The other one was a double door. _The way out._ She headed for the exit when she saw something that she failed to notice before. There was a huge fan like symbol colored red and white on the wall behind the bed. _How did I miss that? It's the Uchiha symbol..._ She took a deep breath and went through the door.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tenten and Naruto had their own problems. At least a dozen of them. "Go to the second floor, she says! If you jump out and break something, you'll heal in no time!" Naruto yelled at no one in particular while shooting down the nearest enemy. Then Tenten shot a vampire behind them and turned around to kick another one in the chest. "Quit complaining Naruto! It's not helping!"

"I don't care! It makes me feel better!" Naruto said while shooting the last one in that hallway. Or at least they thought so.

"Don't worry, soon you won't feel anything at all." They turned around to find Sasuke Uchiha smirking at them.

"Not if I can help it!" Tenten said and, without a second thought, pulled out a couple of UV bombs. A few seconds later she and Naruto made their escape through the nearest window.

* * *

As soon as Minako heard the explosion she began running through the hallway and shooting down anyone who got in the way. _If there were some vampires in here who didn't know about us, they've certainly found out now! __I knew coming here was a bad idea. _She quickly made her way downstairs, trying to reach the first floor. _The explosion I heard earlier was on the third floor, which means Tenten and Naruto are already outside. All I have to do is find Sakura and Kiba and get us all out of here._

Once she got to the first floor, she took a turn into one of the hallways. _Where are you? Please don't be dead! _She ran through the hallways on the first floor, desperately searching through rooms while fighting vampires who didn't seem to stop coming. _Maybe they went back to the ground floor after the explosion! _With that thought she turned around and went for the stairs. When she got to the hall where stairs were, she saw Kiba lying on the floor. "Kiba!" She sat on her knees in front of him and examined the wound on his stomach. _It's bleeding and some ribs are probably broken, but nothing that he can't survive... _"Mina..."

"It's alright Kiba, I'll get us out of here." She said while pulling him up. "Where's Sakura?"

"She's with me, of course." Minako turned around to look in direction the voice came from. She saw Sakura standing near the stairs with Sasuke right behind her. His right arm was wrapped around her waist, while his left hand held hers in it. He placed his head on her left shoulder. Sakura was too terrified to move. She just looked at Minako with sadness and fear in her eyes.

"Let her go, Uchiha." Minako told him in a low voice.

He smirked. "I could, but what's the point of that?" When Minako just kept glaring at him, he continued. "I should probably thank you for going through the trouble of bringing her here."

"What are you talking about?"

"You still don't get it? Or do you simply refuse to admit it to yourself? Never mind, I'll tell you anyway... Your dear friend Sakura, is my soon-to-be-mate."

"No way..." Kiba said in shock. "Not Sakura..."

"Oh, yes. And to show you my gratitude for bringing her here, I'll give you ten seconds head start to get away before I kill you." Then he started counting. "Ten."

"We can't just leave her here Mina!" Kiba said desperately.

"Nine."

Minako glanced from Sakura to Kiba and sighed. _He's right... But what can we do?_

"Eight."

"Forget about me and go!" Sakura screamed at them with tears forming in here eyes.

"Seven."

Minako looked at Sakura for one more time before she grabbed Kiba and jumped through the nearest window.

* * *

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	8. Recovering a lost memory

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

When Minako and Kiba got back to their bikes, Minako noticed that two were missing. _Looks like Tenten and Naruto were here... I just hope they reached the headquarters safely._

Since Kiba wasn't in condition to ride the bike himself, Minako took him with her. She glanced at Sakura's bike with sorrow before riding off.

When they got to the headquarters, a couple of medics were already outside, waiting for them. After Minako convinced them that she was fine, they put Kiba on the stretcher and carried him inside. She slowly walked in behind them. She was stopped by Naruto who was waiting for them in the main hall of the ground floor. "Where is Sakura?" He asked. His voice was trembling with every spoken word.

"We had to leave her." Minako said with her gaze fixed to the floor.

"What do you mean? Was she hurt, or...?"

"No... She's... very much alive. Actually, she's probably going to live a lot longer than... most of us."

"What are you talking about?"

Minako smirked. "Who knew... We've been searching for the lords' mates everywhere... And all along... she was right under my nose..." She told him, but to Naruto it seemed like she was talking to herself instead.

"Mina, are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be Naruto? Because my best friend was taken by vampires last night? Or maybe because I just left Sakura in the hands of a vampire lord? I don't know! You tell me if I'm alright!" Minako then fell to her knees and started to cry. "Why is everything falling apart like this?"

Naruto sat down and hugged her. They stayed like that for a while, until she calmed down.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I shouldn't have yelled at you, it wasn't your fault."

"Don't worry about it."

"Where's Tenten?"

"On the fifth floor, in the ambulance."

They stood up and went for the stairs. "Why aren't we taking the elevator?"

"Other people need it more than we do. Besides, we're only going to the fifth floor."

* * *

Tenten and Kiba were healed quickly and all four of them went to see Tsunade. She didn't take the news about Sakura very well. After they told her everything she wanted to know, she dismissed them to go home.

As soon as she got to her apartment, Minako took a quick shower and went to bed.

* * *

_Dream_

_She was running down the street towards her home. She had been playing in the park and lost track of time, so it was already dark. "I just hope mommy isn't worried too much... Daddy is probably gonna yell at me again..."_

_She ran through the front yard and into the house. "Mommy, daddy, I'm home!" She yelled while closing the door behind her. There was no answer. She went into the kitchen and screamed. A tall, black haired vampire had bitten down her mother's neck and was sucking the blood out of her. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist while the other one was holding her head._

_Small girl turned around and ran into the living room. She saw a vampire drop her father on the floor. "Daddy, no!" She glanced from her father to the vampire standing above him. Tears were coming down her face. Then the vampire started moving towards her. She screamed and went for the stairs but the vampire grabbed her from behind. She started kicking him, desperate to free herself. Than he suddenly dropped her. Two more vampires appeared in the hall and said something to the one that was holding her a moment ago. They suddenly turned around and left through the front door._

_Minako kept lying where the vampire had dropped her. She was frightened and alone, she felt helpless. Then the door opened again and six people walked in. She knew that they weren't vampires, and was relieved. Until she heard her mother's screams. She couldn't believe that her mother was alive, but she was. At that moment, she remembered what her father told her a while ago: "When a vampire bites someone and that person stays alive afterwords, he/she becomes a vampire too." _

_She saw people bind her parents with chains and then someone picked her up and began binding her too. "Wait! Why are you binding me?" She cried out._

"_Sorry kid, but we can't just let you leave." The man who was binding her said._

_She started to kick him and struggle to get free."But I'm not a vampire! They didn't bite me!" _

_He hit her across the face to keep her still. "You all say that." He said before turning away from her and leaving the house with the others._

_She began to struggle again but the chains were to tight. Then she saw the front door burn. The fire spread through the house quickly and soon the smoke started suffocating her. She was barely awake when she felt someone lift her from the floor. She kept her eyes closed, too afraid of what she might see if she opened them._

_She knew that, whoever took her, had carried her out of the house, cause she felt the fresh air on her face. She opened her eyes when she felt the chains come off. She looked around, she was sitting on a bench, in a park. Then she saw him. He wore black clothes, like pretty much everyone she saw that night. He had red, messy hair, a kanji meaning "Love" on his forehead and a pair of beautiful aquamarine eyes. He was smiling__ slightly__ at her. It was strange. It was not usual for people to have red hair or tattoos on their foreheads and yet, they weren't what caught her attention. She kept staring into his eyes, without even trying to look away._

"_You will stay here. People will find you soon enough and they will help you." He told her while rubbing her cheek with the back of his hand. _

"_Why can't I go with you?" She asked pleadingly. _

_He smirked before answering. "Don't worry, you will, as soon as you're ready."_

"_What do you mean? Ready for what?"_

_He stood up and took a step away from her. "When you wake up, you will forget everything that happened from the moment you saw the fire. However, you won't lose that part of your memory forever. One day you will remember, and when you do, I will come for you." _

* * *

Minako woke up and sat up in her bed. _I've had this dream before, but it usually ended with fire... _Than a realization hit her. _So that's what happened... He saved me... Gaara saved me because... I'm supposed to be his mate... __  
_

She got up and went to the window. It was still daytime outside, but was getting late. _Lets look at __the bright side... This explains a lot of things... Like why I've managed to survive every encounter with the vampires and not just that, but also get out of many battles without even a scratch, while other people were losing limbs_. She thought with a calculating look on her face._  
_

Minako glanced at the clock. It was showing 7 pm. _The bad news is, it's probably only a matter of time before Gaara finds out that I've remembered, and I have no idea what to do when he comes for me. _She turned away from the window and went to the kitchen. _Oh well, I probably won't have a say in the matter anyways, so there's no point in worrying about it... Besides, I've got more important things to take care of. Like making breakfast! _

* * *

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	9. One night

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

When Minako came to the headquarters that night, she met Tenten in the main hallway of the ground floor. "Mina, Tsunade wants to see you in her office."

"About a mission? I already know that."

"It's not about the mission." Then she glanced around them to make sure no one was around. "I saw a couple of agents from the main command come in about an hour ago. I think it has something to do with what happened to Sakura."

A frown appeared on Minako's face. "Alright. Thanks." She said and went into the elevator. _I already told Tsunade everything. What could they possibly want me to tell them?_

She reached the tenth floor and went straight into Tsunade's office. "You wanted to see me?" She said as soon as she entered.

Tsunade was sitting at her desk. Minako saw frustration and sadness mixed on her face. That was understandable, since Sakura was her student. Minako still remembers what Tsunade had told her when she put Sakura on her team: _"She is like a daughter to me... Minako, there is only one thing I'll ever ask from you, please keep her safe." Well, I certainly did that job right..._ Minako suddenly felt ashamed by the choice she made at the Uchiha's castle.

Tsunade turned her gaze towards her. "Yes, Minako. These gentlemen are here to ask you a few questions about your last night's mission."

Then one of the men spoke to her. "We will take you downstairs for questioning, if you don't mind."

Minako glared at him, and just when she was about to put in a smart ass comment, Tsunade spoke to her. "Your team won't have any missions tonight, so you don't need to worry about them."

One of the men opened the door, while the other one grabbed Minako by her arm and led her outside.

* * *

"Stay away from me!" Sakura yelled from her position on the king sized bed, while throwing yet another unidentified and most-lightly-soon-to-be-smashed piece of furniture across the room.

"Will you calm down? Throwing things at me won't change anything." Sasuke calmly said while dodging what ever was thrown in his direction.

"Calm down? First you kidnapped me and threaten to kill my friends! Then you bit me! Do you have any idea how much that hurt? Lets not forget that you sucked my blood until I fainted! My entire life had passed before my eyes! Then I wake up here, to have you all over me! You can't just take my life away from me and expect me to give myself to y-!"

"Actually, I can. Now that you're here, there's no going back."

Just when he thought that she was about to throw something at him again, she pulled her knees to her chest began to cry. "T-this is s-so unfair... I n-never g-get to m-make my own ch-choices..." Sakura mumbled with her face buried in her hands.

Sasuke sighed and came to sit next to her. He hugged her and pulled her in his lap. "Shh... Calm down... Everything is going to be fine..." He whispered into her ear.

"N-no it's n-not... I'm n-never g-going to s-see m-my f-friends again... Th-they m-might even c-come to k-kill me b-because I'm a v-vampire..."

"Sakura, as long as I'm here, nothing bad is going to happen to you. I'm going to protect you, always." The raven said before he wiped the tears from her face and stood up. "As for seeing your friends, I don't know if I can do anything about the others, but there is one of them here who would love to see you." He kissed her lightly on the lips before walking to the door.

Sakura was watching him suspiciously before her eyes widened once she saw the person at the other side of the door.

"Shikamaru!"

* * *

"No, I didn't know that Sakura was Uchiha's mate. Not until he told me yesterday himself." Minako was sitting in the barely lighted room, tied to a chair, with two man standing in front of her and obviously _not_ listening to what she was saying cause they've been asking her the same questions over and over.

"Was any of your other teammates familiar with this information, before last night?"

Minako sighed. "Kiba and Naruto have joined recently, so there isn't a chance that they knew anything. As for Tenten, she would've told me if she knew, without a doubt."

"And your partner?"

She scowled. "What about Shikamaru?"

"Well, he was a mind reader, so he must have known something."

"I've already told you that none of us knew about this! Not even Sakura herself! And why are you talking about Shikamaru in the Past Tense?"

"Yelling at us won't make the situation you're in any better."

"What situation?"

The one questioning her stood before her and ducked so that they were in the same eye level. "It seems that you don't understand the seriousness of the last night's event. In case you have forgotten, one of the people whose safety is _your_ responsibility, was left behind in the vampire's castle by none other that _you_."

Minako's eyes narrowed at him. "You'll get out of my face right now, if you know what's good for you."

* * *

After Sasuke left, Shikamaru sat on the bed next to Sakura. "We thought you died or something! Why didn't you send a message or-"

"You and I both know that I couldn't have done that."

"But, what happened?"

"Lets just say that I was done at the night watch. I could have stayed a bit longer though, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference."

"What do you mean?"

"Huh... That story is for some other time. Right now, I'm here to help you adjust."

"You mean to convince me to sleep with him? I thought you were on my side."

"Sakura, I am on your side."

"No. Forget it. I don't want this, I just want my old life back." She said while keeping her gaze fixed on her lap.

Shikamaru sighed. "Look around you. You don't really have a choice here. If you don't let him have you willingly, he'll take you by force. Do you really want to live like that?" Than he stood up. "I'm not saying that you should throw yourself into Sasuke's arms. But you should give this life a chance, cause you're stuck here." With that he turned around and left her with her thoughts.

* * *

_I'm beginning to think that they didn't come here for questioning. _Minako thought just before she received another hit in the face. _Oh, that hurts! I think there's blood in my mouth..._

"Answer the question! Now!"

Minako lifted her gaze to meet his. "Sorry... What was the question again?" Of course, that earned her a hit in the stomach. _Is there... no under the belt rule? Or is that just for guys?_

"Do you think this is a game?"

"Well if it is, it sucks big time... you're the only one having fun." Minako said with a smirk.

The next thing she knew, he untied her, pulled her up and pushed her on the floor. And then he kicked her everywhere he could reach until she fainted from the pain. Then he turned to his partner. "She can leave when she wakes up, but no one is allowed to heal her."

"Yes sir."

When Minako woke up a few hours later, one of the agents was still in the room. "What? Is it your turn?"

"You should learn how to control that attitude of yours. It's gonna get you killed one day."

"I don't know where you were when I was getting the beating, but I can assure you that my attitude wasn't what broke a couple of my ribs."

"Whatever, do what you want. Anyway, you're free to go, with one condition. Whoever even tries to heal you, will be punished. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Then he turned around and left.

* * *

After about thirty minutes of agony, Minako finally made it back to the ground floor's main hall. Tenten was waiting for her. "Minako! What happened? You look-"

"Well... I go way back with the questioning process, so this really isn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal! How-"

"Sorry to interrupt you again, but is there some special reason why you've been waiting for me? I'm in a bit of a hurry..."

Tenten gave her a questioning look, but decided to drop the subject. "Tsunade wanted to see you as soon as those two are done questioning you, but you should go to the ambulance first."

"No, I better see Tsunade." Then Minako slowly went to the elevator. "Tenten, go home!" She said before the door closed.

* * *

When she finally reached Tsunade's office, the old woman almost had a heart attack. "What did you say to make them do that to you Minako? It looks worst that the last time!"

"Which last time?" Minako asked while slowly sitting in the chair, wincing in the process.

"Let me heal you."

"You know you can't do that."

"Don't worry. I'll heal only what's broken. The cuts and swellings are something you'll have to deal with yourself."

Minako sighed and took a mirror Tsunade was holding out for her. "This is so unfair! It'll take ages for my face to go back to normal!" She said while looking at her reflection. "He made me a black eye, just great." She said with irritation clear in her voice.

"Relax, it doesn't look that bad. Besides, the cuts will be gone in not more than a couple of weeks and the swellings won't take longer than a month."

"Thanks. That's really comforting." Minako said before getting up. "Thanks for fixing me, by the way."

"No problem. Just make sure not to walk too normally, or they'll realize I healed you."

"Yeah, yeah." Tsunade heard the girl say, before the door closed behind her.

* * *

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	10. A matter of perspective

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

It's been a month since Shikamaru's disappearance and the useless attack that they lost Sakura in.

Every day seemed longer and each one was more agonizing that the one before.

It was already nighttime, but Minako didn't feel like being on time for her next mission, so she just lied on her bed, thinking. _It strange... After I've remembered what happened that night, I was scared... As the time went by, the fear, just went away... I guess... I think I'm getting more used to the idea of being with him... I don't know... Maybe telling Tsunade about it would be the right thing to do... Than again, what we classify as right or wrong depends on the place we stand. So the right question would be: where do I stand? _

"Aaah! Shikamaru! Where are you when I need you?" Minako yelled at the ceiling.

"Try getting your lazy ass out of bed and you might actually see me."

"Look who's talking, you la-" Minako sat up to glare at the unexpected visitor. "Shikamaru!" The next thing the poor lazy genius knew, he was lying on the floor with Minako on top of him, hugging him to death.

"Mina, this is wrong on so many levels."

Minako gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Even if we forget about my breathing difficulties in this position, you _are_ lying on top of me, with nothing but a t-shirt and panties on."

Three seconds later, Minako jumped and ran into the bathroom to get dressed. "I'll be right back!"

* * *

When Minako got out fully dressed, she found Shikamaru in the living room, sitting on the couch. "Nice of you to drop by." She said while sitting across from him.

"I'm sorry Mina."

"For what? Leaving?"

"Mina, I can explain."

"Start talking."

"It started about two years ago, when I met her."

"What started? Who did you meet?"

"I met Temari. And we became mates. She wanted to turn me back then, but since I was in the night watch, her brother asked me for a favor." Minako was looking at him wide eyed and then he read her thoughts. "Yes, Gaara. He asked me to stay in the night watch for a while longer to keep an eye on three women that he and the other two lords have chosen to be their mates."

"So you've known, all this time..."

"Yes. I was quite shocked when he told me that one of those women was you. On the other hand, it made my job easier, since we've been working together ever since we joined the night watch. Of course, getting the other two to join the team was a bit of a challenge, but it was nothing my special ability couldn't fix."

"Tenten... she's the third one?"

"Yes."

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid that I might tell the night watch about it?"

Shikamaru smirked. "Tell me, how long have you known that Gaara chose you?" When she didn't answer, he continued. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Minako lifted her gaze to meet his. "About a month."

"So if you haven't told anyone after a whole month, why would I be afraid that you'll tell someone now? Besides, we both know what would happen to you and Tenten if the night watch found out. I don't think anyone is that blindly devoted to its cause."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. You do too. The night watch won't take any chances if they find out about you and Tenten. Killing the two of you is a small price to pay for-"

"Why are you saying this? I thought we were friends, that we fought for the same thing!"

"We are friends, we always were. I care about you, and nothing will ever change that. But our reasons for fighting have changed when I gained a new perspective."

"What _new_ perspective?" Minako yelled in frustration.

"Perspective of a person who knows the truth."

"The _truth_?"

"Yes. Vampires weren't the ones who started this war. Humans did. The reason why most people don't know about this is because the only humans who knew what happened kept their mouths shut. It's a lot easier to convince people into hating and fighting vampires when you tell them that "Vampires started it." Of course, after a while, those who knew the truth died and the only place where it can be found today are old records that nobody ever thinks of looking at."

Minako sighed. "How exactly, did _we_ start the war?"

"First of all, I should make a few things clear to you. All that talk about humans and vampires having the same rights before the war, is a lie. Humans were free to do what ever they wanted. Vampires, on the other hand, weren't allowed to live anywhere near humans. In fact, the castles that we live in now, were where vampires in the past were forced to live in. And the special security system that closes all doors and windows after the sunrise – vampires didn't make it, they just modified it to work that way. Humans were the ones to make it so that they could control the time when vampires could get out. They would keep them looked up for weeks if they felt like it. At that time, vampires were allowed to feed off animals only, but since humans kept them trapped in castles for too long, they weren't able to get any blood, so they became weak. And that's what humans were waiting for. When they thought that vampires were weak enough they attacked. That's when the last three vampire lords were killed. Of course, vampires then fought back and the war started."

Minako stared at him wide eyed and than her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How can I be sure that you're not lying to me?"

"Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

Minako glared at him. "Do you really want me to answer that question?" Then she stood up and went for the door.

"Where are you going? It's already past ten, there are vampires all over the place."

She turned to face him. "You said that there were records. I need to make sure that what you said is true."

"Do you have to make sure _now_? And aren't you already late for your job?"

"Now is as good time as any Shikamaru. As for the job, I didn't feel like going on a mission before you came here, and you can be sure that I'm not planning on going now." With that she opened the door and ran outside.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru said to himself before running after her.

* * *

When he finally caught up to her, he pulled her by the arm to slow her down. "You do know that just because Gaara wants you doesn't mean that he's gonna fly around the town and keep you from killing yourself? Vampires that we might run into have no idea that you're supposed to become his mate one of these days, so there's nothing stopping them from grabbing you as an easy meal."

"I am aware of that Shikamaru, and in case you have forgotten, you're a vampire now. Which means that you won't be able to walk into the night watch headquarters with me, like during the good old days. So do us both a favor and go back to your mate."

After hearing that, Shikamaru stopped dead in his tracks. Minako stopped and turned around to see a hurt look on his face. Then she sighed. "What is that look for? I finally got to see you again after thinking that you're dead for the past month, so if you think that I'm gonna let you come with me and get yourself blown up or worse, you've got another thing coming." She said.

"You are the weirdest person I've ever met, Minako." He said with a smirk.

"Yeah, same to you, now get lost before somebody sees us." With that she turned around and took off towards the headquarters.

* * *

After beating up a few vampires that got in the way, Minako finally reached the headquarters. _I've never been here when everyone's on missions... It's pretty empty... _She ran upstairs, to the forth floor, where the records were kept. _Lets see... If I were a document that had some kind of secret in it, where would I be?_

* * *

It was around three in the morning when Minako finally found what she was looking for. _So he wasn't lying after all... Should I be ashamed of myself for not trusting my best friend? I think not. _When she looked around, Minako realized that she'd made quite a mess during her search. _Oops... I better put everything back to it's place before somebody comes._ When she was finally done, she went back to the ground floor, where she saw Naruto. He looked scared and nervous.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" She asked when she came close to him.

"Mina! We just came back from a mission."

"A mission? You weren't supposed to go anywhere without me."

"Yeah, that's what Tenten told Tsunade, but we had to go anyway..."

"Alright, I'll deal with that later. Where are Tenten and Kiba?"

"Kiba is in the ambulance."

Minako's eyes widened. "And Tenten?"

Naruto turned his gaze to the floor and shook his head instead of answering. "Naruto, stay here with Kiba." She told him before running out on the street.

* * *

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	11. Standing on the line

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

Minako ran through the streets until she reached a small park. "Shikamaru! I know you're here!" She yelled while stopping in front of a tree.

"What is it? I thought you wanted me to leave." A voice coming from behind her said.

"You knew that he was going to take her tonight, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

She turned around to face him. "Tell me!"

"I did. Are you happy now?"

"Is that why you came to see me? You knew that Tsunade was going to send them out even if I'm not there-"

"Why are you being so dramatic Minako? She's better off with the Hyuuga anyway."

"That's what you think! What about Tenten?"

"If Sakura got used to it, so will Tenten."

The raven blinked in surprise. "You... saw Sakura?"

"Yes. She misses everyone a lot, but she's fine."

Minako slowly sat down with her back to the tree. "She wouldn't miss anyone if I hadn't left her there... And now I lost Tenten too..."

Shikamaru sat next to her. "You didn't lose anyone Mina. Besides, there is nothing you could have done for either one of them. If you stepped in between the lords and their mates, you would've died."

"At least I wouldn't feel this miserable..."

"Yeah, the tricky part about being dead is not being able to feel anything." Shikamaru said while looking at the sky through the branches.

"That reminds me... I've found the records that you told me about. Turns out you were telling the truth."

"So you trust some ancient document more than you trust me?"

"You can't really blame me for it... I mean, you lied that you were dead for the past month, so what would stop you from lying about other things?"

"I never said that I was dead, so it doesn't count as lying. You can't blame me for your presumptions."

Minako smiled. "Just like the old days, ha?"

"Why wouldn't it be? Noting has really changed..."

"Yeah... Except now you have a pair of fangs, inhuman abilities and immortality." Minako said while counting with her fingers. "I on the other hand, have lost a total of three teammates and gained a few admirers from the main command of the night watch."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru turned his gaze from the sky to Minako.

"Ever since the mission that I kinda lost Sakura in, they are not leaving me alone. Whenever I went on missions, they would wait for me to come back and give them a full report, and sometimes they didn't even let me go, but kept me for "questioning" instead."

"What did they usually ask you?"

"Always the same questions... Did I know that Uchiha chose Sakura to be his mate? Did anyone from my team know? Recently they started asking a lot about you too."

"I'm not surprised... Some of the agents from our night watch have seen me with other vampires." Shikamaru told her while looking back at the stars.

"That explains it... They found out that you're one of them now..." Minako said while lifting her gaze towards the sky.

"Mina?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you find an answer to your question yet?"

"What question?"

"Where do you stand?"

"Well... It's complicated."

"Really? How exactly?"

"Everything that I've found out does make a difference, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still human."

"And if you were a vampire?"

"I wouldn't go cloud gazing, that's for sure..." Minako smiled when she heard her friend's chuckle. "It's funny how, no matter what we do, we never really have a choice."

"That's what war is Mina... You're either on one side or the other, there's no such thing as being neutral."

"I know... It's just, I've never really noticed it before... My friends and I were all together on the same side, so I didn't care about anything else... And now-"

"Someone's coming." Shikamaru said before he disappeared.

Minako stood up and scowled after noticing the unwanted company. _What are they doing here? _Three agents were coming her way.

"Minako Ibuka, come with us."

"Why?"

"We have some questions that we'd like to ask you."

"Then ask."

"Not here, back at the headquarters."

"I'd prefer it if you'd ask them here instead."

Just when two of them started walking towards her so that they could drag her away, they were stopped by their leaders scream. When they turned around, they saw the third guy's chest was pierced by someone's arm. The vampire that killed him pulled his hand out and let the body fall. The other two agents backed away immediately.

"You'll pay for that vampire!" One of them said while pulling out his gun.

"Think again, human." Another vampire said before his kick sent the agent into a tree.

The other agent backed away, but was surrounded by three more vampires. Minako just stood at her spot close to the tree. _Running away in my position is impossible, and my chances of actually surviving the fight are pretty small, even if I were to presume that there are only five of them..._She thought while trying to keep herself calm. Of course, the situation she was in made that impossible.

And then the last agent got killed. Naturally, they turned to her next. _One thing is for sure, I'm not going down without a fight! _With that thought, she reached for her guns. Then she remembered that she used all of her bullets while she was fighting to get to the headquarters that night. _Just great..._ So, after losing the plan A, she went for the plan be B, which consisted of fighting them off and hopefully finding a way to escape and maybe even call for backup.

"What is a pretty girl like you doing outside in an hour as late as this?" One of them asked while they were slowly closing in on her.

"Waiting for sunrise... Wanna join me?" Minako said while taking a step back.

"What? No screaming, begging for mercy? Didn't your parents teach you how to behave in front of vampires?" The same one, obviously the leader, said. Then he started laughing and the others mimicked his action.

"No, they didn't live long enough."

"Is that so?" The leader said before appearing in front of her. He grabbed her throat and pushed her against the tree. "Would you like to see them again?" He asked before moving her head to the side.

Minako's eyes widened as he opened his mouth and went for her neck. She tried to push him away, but he was simply too strong.

"Bite her, and it will be the last thing you'll ever do." The vampire froze in his spot, his fangs almost touching Minako's skin. He took a step back and turned away from her, letting her fall to the ground since her legs gave up.

"My lord, please forgive me, I had no idea that you wanted this woman's blood for yourself..." The vampire said while bowing.

Minako was sitting behind him with her legs on the side. She was holding her throat with one hand while keeping herself from falling over with the other.

Gaara passed the other vampires while glaring at their leader. He came to Minako and pulled her up. Since she was still unable to stand, he wrapped his left arm around her waist while she held on to his shoulder. "Your statement is only partially correct. I don't want just her blood, I want everything she has to offer." He said while looking down at Minako. "The only reason why I'm going to let you live is because you've killed those three agents, but don't think that I'm going to forget about this."

"Of course, my lord. Thank you..." The vampire said while bowing.

"Leave." As soon as those words left Gaara's mouth, they were all gone. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her close. Minako rested her head on his chest.

"Why did you make me forget?"

"Because you weren't supposed to find out anyway."

"I was a kid! I wouldn't have known what that meant even if I remembered!"

"Not right away, for sure. But you would have realized eventually."

Minako pushed herself away from him and sat on the ground with her back to him. "You could have taken me with you... It would make things so much easier!"

Gaara folded his arms on his chest and sighed. "And how exactly?"

She stood up and turned towards him. "Since we don't have a choice why didn't you simply take us away while we were babies? At least then you wouldn't have to worry about possible resistance, and we wouldn't have any friends or a life to leave behind."

"That's a good idea, from your point of view. But lets just imagine what would've happened if I did take you away from your parents when you were little. I would watch you play, make friends, grow and I would teach you new things, like every _parent_ does. Tell me, how would you feel if someone who you considered a father suddenly decided to make you his lover?"

Minako's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't think about that part..."

He took a step closer and hugged her. "We aren't taking you away like this because we like to watch you cry for your friends or family. There simply isn't a better way. The previous generations of vampire lords used this way to get their mates and the next generations will do the same. You are not the only one without a choice."

Minako wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "I don't think I ever really forgot those..." She said before closing the gap between them and kissing him on the lips. The moment later, he was gone.

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	12. Change of heart

**I don't own Naruto.  
**

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Minako looked around but Gaara was nowhere in sight. _Something must have happened... I better go back to the headquarters. _With that thought she ran off in direction of the dark, well known building.

When she got there, she found out that Naruto and Kiba have both went home. _What am I supposed to do now? _Minako questioned herself while she was walking down the stairs towards the ground floor.

She found at least a dozen agents in black cloaks in the main hall. There were more of them coming inside, and some were being carried to the elevator by medics. Minako stopped one of the medics that came her way. "What happened?"

The medic looked at her worriedly, before answering. "They were attacked on their way here. Vampires ambushed them while they were driving through the forest. I've heard some say that all three vampire lords appeared. That hasn't happened in years."

_That explains why Gaara left... _"They are all from the main command... Why did they come here?"

"I don't know... It has to be something pretty important though..." The medic said.

"Yeah. Thanks anyway."

"No problem." The medic smiled at her nervously, before walking away.

Minako stood there for a while and then she noticed one of the agents walking towards her. "Minako Ibuka?"

_Aren't I popular today?_ She thought, but decided to keep that to herself. "Yes. Is something the matter?"

He stood before her and looked her straight in the eyes. "Three agents were send to find you and bring you here, where are they? And before you answer, I must warn you that I am very skilled in catching people in their lies, so it will be better for you to tell me the truth."

"Why would I lie? They did find me, but I came here alone."

"Why didn't they come with you?"

"Because they were killed."

"By you?"

"No. Vampires attacked us."

"If those vampires were strong enough to take down three of the main command's agents, how did you survive?"

"Maybe because I'm stronger than them."

"Don't make me laugh. You and the rest of the garbage that works here are only good for dying. There isn't a chance that you could outmatch even one of my agents. Now answer the question."

"I got lucky."

"Really? Explain."

"I would love to, but it would probably take you ages to understand."

He scowled, than grabbed her throat and pushed her against the wall. "You won't be so smug when we're through with you."

"What are you talking about?" Minako asked while trying to pull his hand off.

He smirked. "You were probably wondering why we came here. The reason is you."

"I don't understand."

"Let me explain. When your partner went missing, we didn't pay much attention to it. But then, one of your teammates was left behind with a vampire lord. As you've probably noticed, we've been keeping a close eye on you since. Then we've received some reports about your partner, Shikamaru Nara, who has been seen with vampires. Further more, another one of your teammates was taken away by another vampire lord a few hours ago. And now you show up and tell me that three of my agents were killed by vampires while you got away without a scratch. Do you get the picture?"

"You think I'm a double agent."

"No. I know you are. I also know that you weren't alone. Nara was obviously your partner in betrayal as well. Too bad he left you behind... Or was that your deal? He'll go missing, you'll pretend to go and look for him, then you'll leave that Haruno woman behind, with a "you didn't have a choice" line as an excuse. And now, a whole month later, you purposely skipped your mission, knowing that the other woman on your team would be taken away next." He paused to see her reaction, but she simply stared at him, so he continued. "I presume that you waited for a month because you were hoping to get us off your case so that you could slip away without any trouble once your job was finished. The only thing that I couldn't figure out is why you didn't give the vampires three women, since there are three lords."

Minako smirked. "If you're lucky, you might find out before this night is over."

"So you admit that you've done everything that I've just said?"

"Does it matter? You're gonna lock me up and throw away the key anyway."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. We're going to take you to the main command for trial. And considering your case, you are probably going to be sentenced to death." He said that before he called one of the other agents to come and bind her.

A couple of minutes later, they took her out of the building with her arms in chains. She was pushed inside a black car with two agents sitting next to her and two more in front. She could see about two more cars in front of and behind them and the same number of agents on motorbikes.

"You really overdid it with the security... It's not like I can even get out of this car..." Minako said to no one in particular.

"The security isn't for you, it's for your bloodsucking friends in case they decide to rescue you." The driver said to her.

Minako just stared in front of her. _How strong are these guys anyway? Could they actually kill Gaara and the other vampires? I'd rather not find out... _Then she looked through the window. The trees were beginning to surround them. _The forest..._ They've passed a couple of burning vehicles.

One of the agents, the same one that questioned her earlier, saw what she was looking at. "Don't think that just because we've had a few loses that you're going to be miraculously saved from what is coming for you. We were taken by surprise on our way here, but we won't make that mistake again." He said with a smirk.

"Of course not. Why make same mistakes, when you can make new ones?" Minako said without looking at him.

The agent scowled. "It seems that only death can shut you up."

She smirked. "I guess we'll never know."

"What are you-" He was stopped in the middle of his sentence by and explosion of the cars in front of them. A few seconds later, the two behind them met the same fate. The agents that were on bikes started shooting at the attackers, but they didn't last long. Then everything stopped.

"What happened? Why did they stop?" The driver questioned while taking out his gun.

They heard noise above them. The sound of someone landing on top of the car. Two knives went through and killed the driver and the agent sitting on the passenger's seat. Then two giant wings cut the top open revealing the read headed vampire lord.

"Why didn't you stay in the park?" He asked Minako without sparing a second glance at the other two sitting beside her.

"Because I didn't know that this would happen if I went back to the headquarters..?"

Gaara rolled his eyes at her answer. "Shikamaru is right, you are troublesome."

"Thank you for noticing. Would you please get these chains off now? My arms are getting stiff..."

At that moment both of the remaining agents pulled out their guns and aimed them at the red head. They never had a chance to fire though. He stabbed them with his wings the second later. Then he ducked and took the chains off before picking her up. He jumped and landed far away from the car and put Minako down.

"What? You're not gonna carry me?"

"Come." Gaara said before he took her hand and led her into the forest.

They walked in silence for a while before he stopped. "Gaara, where are we?"

"Near my castle."

"Oh. And why did we stop?"

"Because there is one more thing I have to do before we go in." He answer while wrapping his arms around her waist.

Minako realized what he was talking about and slightly panicked. "Wait! On the scale from one to ten, how much will it hurt?"

"I wouldn't know Minako, I was never bitten. But you can be sure that it will hurt less if you relax."

She sighed. "Fine." Then she moved her head to the side, allowing him better access to her neck.

"Don't worry, it won't last long." Gaara said before his fangs pierced her skin.

Minako cried out from pain at first, but then the numbness started taking her over. Soon enough, she fainted from blood loss.

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When Minako woke up, she noticed a few changes. First – she could feel a couple of fangs in her mouth. Second – there was a huge change in her surroundings - she was lying in a king sized bed with red and black sheets which happened to be in a room as large as the one she saw in the Uchiha's castle. _The furniture is pretty much the same... I wander if there is a bath tub in the bathroom?_ But the third change was the most important one – she wasn't wearing her clothes. She had a black, silky nightgown on.

"You're awake." Was all she heard before a pair of lips crushed against her own. _Gaara..._ She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Then she felt his tongue on her lips, asking for entrance, and she parted them a moment later, letting his tongue explore the inside of her mouth. When they parted for air, Minako opened her eyes to look straight at Gaara's aquamarine orbs. "You are such a pervert." She said.

"Why?"

"Because you took my clothes off and cleaned me up while I was unconscious."

"So? It's not like that's gonna be the last time I'll see you naked." Gaara said with a smirk before leaning in for another kiss.

**THE END**

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**I hope you liked the story. **

**Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and/or put this story in their favorite/alerts lists. I couldn't have done it without you.  
**


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